


The Sun God's Will of Fire

by ChaosProtector



Category: Naruto, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Apollo (Percy Jackson) is a Good Parent, Apollo Becomes the Hunters Cool Uncle, Apollo Grows Up, Apollo Hates Hera, Apollo Reconnects with the Olympians, Apollo is Devoted to his Wife Even in Death, Ares is a jerk, Crossover, F/M, Mature Apollo, Minato is Apollo, Paranoid Zeus, Percy Gets Training from Apollo, Protective Apollo, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26019913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosProtector/pseuds/ChaosProtector
Summary: Apollo goes too far, and finally breaks the bond between him and Artemis. Distraught, he seeks to improve himself and become the type of man his sister can respect. So when a Sage from another world offers to help by having him reincarnate as a mortal in his world, he accepts. When he returns to his world, he is no longer just Apollo, but also Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Aphrodite/Hephaestus (Percy Jackson), Apollo/Uzumaki Kushina, Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina
Comments: 7
Kudos: 70





	1. Prologue: Breaking Point

In a city on the edge of the east coast, there was a small bar. Patrons would come here and waste away to forget their problems and to find solace. But it was closing time, far too late for anyone to have a drink, so it was empty.

Except for one patron.

A man with the brightest golden hair and blue eyes you could ever find in someone was sitting alone, drinking as much as he could from his bottle. Normally, anyone who knew him or even gazed at him would describe him as being one of the most handsome men they've ever met, but not in this case. His bright blue eyes were bloodshot as if he had just finished crying. The confident smirk he always had was gone. His eyes' brightness had dulled as if a great tragedy had occurred. Whereas once you could describe him as being as bright as the sun, he now looked muted and broken. The disheveled man knew the alcohol here would not be enough to get him to become wasted, but he didn't care. He just wanted a place to be away from everyone, from everything, to drink in peace.

The proud God Apollo tried to drink to forget, but no matter what, he couldn't take the events of what happened out of his mind.

" _I really….screwed it all up."_ the sun God bitterly thought. He never thought that things could get so bad, but in one moment, he destroyed the relationship between him and his sister. He knew that the arguments between them had been getting worse, but he always believed that in the end he could work it out with Artemis. His sister was a sworn maiden and a protector of women, and Apollo himself was one of the biggest players on Olympus. The tensions had been growing with Apollo being more blatant in his flirting with the Hunters, and Artemis being angrier and angrier. To Apollo, this was business as usual, but he had been ignoring how his sister was slowly changing, how her frustration became more genuine, and how she began to resent his presence, coldly rebuffing him and shutting him out. So he kept trying to flirt with the Hunters to get her attention, ignoring her wishes in an endless cycle.

Until today when he went too far.

Artemis had found a new teenage maiden whose parents had been killed by a pack of hellhounds looking for food that she had run into and was considering having to join her hunt when Apollo decided to pop in. Artemis had left to go hunting for a meal with her hunters, expecting the girl to be safe and take the time to think it over, and that Apollo would leave without his sister to pester. He took one look at the girl and immediately began flirting with her. When Artemis left, he pretended to flash out but came back and immediately began hitting on her again. Being the new girl, she couldn't resist his temptations, and, well….

When Artemis came back a half-hour later, she found the two naked in the woods.

Apollo's eyes began to water as he remembered his sister's words to him….

* * *

" _GET OUT!" screamed Artemis. To anyone else, the sight of a 12-year-old girl holding a bow screaming at another teenager would have been comical, but this was not the case with gods._

" _Come on Arty, I was just having some fun" whined Apollo, having flashed an outfit on with a snap of his fingers._

" _FUN?! She was an innocent maiden! You took her maidenhood in my domain! How could you?!"_

" _Hey, she asked for it! Besides, it's a lot better than being stuck as a maiden forever, I was just showing her a good time."_

_Typically this was the part where Artemis would make some threat and Apollo would flash out in response, but something was different. Instead of screaming, even more, Artemis grew quiet. Apollo noticed his sister's eyes dulling, clouded with anger, and….disappointment?_

" _Is that all my hunter's oath means to you? A worthless joke?" Artemis asked and her tone made her sound so….heartbroken._

_Apollo wasn't sure what to do so he decided to do the dumbest thing possible: make light jokes about it._

" _Come on sis, the whole maiden thing works for you, but it's a huge bore for everyone else! Even you got to admit my way is more fun!"_

_His sister said nothing, and as the Sun God looked closer, he could see the beginnings of…tears in her eyes?_

" _I'm tired of this…" Artemis whispered in a heartbroken tone._

" _Arty?"_

" _I'm tired of you!" With that, Artemis whipped her head to face Apollo, letting him see her eyes. The tears were gone and instead replaced with silver eyes glowing with rage, her eyes as hard stale, staring with cold disgust. The sight of this shook Apollo for a bit, but what she would say would cut deeply._

" _I'm tired of waiting for you to grow up! Thinking that someday you'll understand me and finally act like how you used to back on Delos! That you would respect me and my oaths! That you would change! That you would be…my brother again."_

_Apollo stared in shocked. He had never seen his sister so angry with him before, and he had no idea what to say, but before he could interrupt, she went back at a rant._

" _But no…you'll never change. You constantly try to get my hunters to break their sacred oaths even though they would be forced to leave my hunt! I love my hunters, and you keep trying to take away, and you don't even care about my feelings or if they would want to leave! How do you think they would feel being forced to leave their sisters? But no, you don't care, because you don't care about anyone but yourself!"_

" _You are everything that's wrong with men. Your arrogant, conceited, and you only care about yourself! You go around sleeping with every single woman you can find in an instant! You're a disgusting pig that doesn't care about his actions as long as he satisfies his urges! And you never grow up or try to change! I'm…I'm truly ashamed to be your twin sister. The idea that we share the same mother is humiliating!"_

_With every statement, Apollo felt his heartbreaking more and more. He could feel the contempt in his sister's voice, how distraught she was. He never knew that this was how his sister felt about him, how all the centuries had broken down her image of him._

" _Artemis…"_

" _I…I hate you. I hate you Apollo. I hate what you've become. But I won't argue with you anymore about it, because I know you won't change. No matter what I say or do, you won't try to change yourself. Your happy with what you've become. And I know the minute you leave, you'll just go look for another woman to spread her legs for you, and you won't even remember what I've said. You don't care about me or what I'm saying. You'll never change."_

" _Artemis, please!"_

" _I'm done with trying to help you. Goodbye, Apollo."_

_And with that statement, Artemis flashed out, leaving the Sun God all alone, tears welling up in his eyes as her words sunk in, realizing that he finally pushed her too far..._

* * *

Apollo poured another bottle for himself as the tears rolled down his eyes. He didn't mean for things to get so crazy! He just….he couldn't help himself. But he thought Artemis would forgive him because she always forgave him no matter what. He hadn't realized that this was the final straw, that the centuries of had taken its toll, and that his sister had so much contempt for him now, and that worst of all, he couldn't blame anyone but himself for what happened.

" _I'm sorry Arty…."_ Apollo thought to himself. For all of his many faults, he truly loved his sister. She was his whole world to him, and he felt like it was his duty to protect her. Sure, sometimes he went too far, like with the Orion incident, but he would never hurt his sister intentionally. To hear what she truly thought of him now, what he had done…it broke him.

As the God of truth, he knew when someone was lying to him. And he knew, no matter what he could try to tell himself, she meant every word of it. She truly hated the man he had become.

A part of him considered leaving to find a woman and drown out his misery in sex, but that would mean his sister was truly right about him, that he was hopeless. So instead he found a closed bar to drink his sorrows away and contemplate his life.

Having his sister tear down his self-image, Apollo was finally forced to confront himself and his life choices. And he realized, intentionally or not, that he was slowly becoming more and more like their father. His ego had ballooned out of control, he lusted after and impregnated woman back and forth without care, and he was uncaring of what anyone thought of beside himself. The only thing missing was smiting people for annoying him and having a wife to cheat on. Artemis had a complicated love-hate relationship with her father, but having known Apollo from the very beginning, seeing him degrade like this, becoming more and more corrupt, had broken her from the inside. He was so full of himself, he never noticed how his sister was pulling away from in disgust of what he had become.

He contemplated where to go from here. As he saw it, there were only two real choices left. One was to do nothing about it, go on having slept with a random woman, and acting like an overgrown frat boy. He would have fun forever, but he would also lose any chance of regaining the love and respect of his sister again.

The other option was much harder, the hardest thing for a god to do. He would have to change who he was, become a better man, one his sister could respect, and be proud of. One she could call a brother. For a god, acknowledging your faults, and trying to change who you were for the better was difficult, nearly impossible.

But for Apollo, for what he had to gain if he went through with it, it wasn't a question at all.

"I'll show you…" he muttered. "I'll show you, sis….I really can change. I can be someone you're proud of."

But words were easier than actions, and Apollo had no idea what to do next. He needed to show his sister that he could become a better person. But how?

"Perhaps I can help you."

Apollo spun around in an instant, bow in hand, although his aim was slightly off from the alcohol in his system. He had no idea how someone could get behind him but he was prepared to kill him if need be.

Only to freeze at the sight before him.

The speaker was an old man, but everything about his appearance was strange. For one thing, he was floating above the air calmly. Another was the small black spheres surrounding him, spheres that radiated power. He was wearing a white robe with black marking on it, reminding him of the magatama's he had seen during his last visit to Japan.

But was the strangest part about him was his eyes. All three of them. His two eyes in front of him had a strange purplish color, and the one on his forehead was red, but they were all covered in rings.

He had no idea what he was seeing, but he knew one thing: This man radiated power and yet…serenity.

"Who are you?" Apollo asked

The stranger put my hand up. "Peace, I am not here to harm you. I simply wish to talk."

Sensing the truth behind the man's words, Apollo put his bow down.

"My name is Hagoromo. I am the Sage of Six Paths."

"The….Sage of Six Paths?" Apollo asked confusingly.

"Yes, although I am not surprised by your shock. You see, I'm not from your world. I'm from a world very close to your own, separated by a veil that keeps our dimensions separate. A land similar to yours, but filled with shinobi who protect it."

And so he told him everything. About the world, he was from, about the existence of Chakra, about the villages, about the wars, about his Rinnegan and Sharingan. Everything.

It all sounded crazy to Apollo. And yet, he knew the man was telling the truth behind everything. Nothing he said registered as a lie, and he was too detailed to be trying to fool with him half-truths or mislead him.

"That's….very interesting," Apollo finally responded with, having struggled to know what to say to the man. "But why are you here?"

"Ah, I suppose that's the most pressing question, isn't it?" Hagoromo acknowledged. "You see, I am here because I need help. I live in a world between the living and the dead, so that I can monitor both my world and others if the need arises. And in my world, much like yours, there is a Great Prophecy, of a hero who will save the world."

Apollo's eyes widened a bit at the mention of the prophecy of a child of the Big Three choosing to save or destroy Olympus. Hagoromo had been observing them longer then he thought. "And what does that have to do with my world?"

"Because no one knows that there is a second part of the prophecy, one that was hidden because it was too unbelievable. It says that 'The hero who will save the world, will be born of the god seeking redemption from another world, cast in mortal form.' This world is the closest to my mine and as it is a world controlled by gods, I arrived to search for the one I seek. I could sense your distraught and emotions, and investigated."

"Now then…would you like to talk about why you are feeling this way, Apollo?" Hagoromo gently asked.

Apollo considered for a moment this. Normally he wouldn't be so trusting of a stranger, but he hadn't lied about anything so far, and he had the presence of an understanding man. So he decided, for the first time, to be honest about his feelings.

"I…I messed things up with my twin sister," Apollo began. "She's a sworn maiden, and she has a group of followers that also swear to be maidens too, and I always hit on them whenever I visit. But the last time I did, I hit on a someone she wanted to recruit and I…I took her maidenhood in the forest next to her camp. My sister just, lost it. She said she hated me and wanted me out of her life."

Apollo couldn't help it, he felt everything he had been holding back pouring out of him "And I know I always bug her, but I love my sister, I wouldn't do anything to harm her. She was the last person who ever really respected me. My father thinks I'm a disappointment, my stepmom hates my mother and looks down on me, and all of my siblings think I'm a useless idiot whose only good for hitting on women. But it was all ok because I still had my sister on my side. But now, I've lost that too…"

"I just want to be close to my sister again. I want us to be like in the old days when we were by each other's side. I want…I want to be someone she could be proud to call brother."

Hagoromo said nothing, letting the god air out his grievances and regrets. Apollo had to admit, he felt slightly better expressing himself like this.

"And what would you do to regain your sister's respect?" he finally asked.

Apollo steeled himself and stared at Hagoromo's eyes.

"Anything."

"Hmm…" Hagoromo muttered, rubbing his beard slightly. "I believe you are the one I have been searching for after all."

"Wait, you think I'm the god you've been looking for?" Apollo asked.

"Yes, I can see it in your eyes," Hagoromo said. "You truly regret your actions and wish for a chance to redeem yourself. I can give you that chance."

"How?"

"Come to my world, help me save it from destruction."

Apollo considered it. Saving the world would have to win back his sister's respect, right? "But how am I supposed to do that? Go to your world and pop out a kid for you?"

"It's more complicated like that," Hagoromo said. "In my world, there are no demigods. Introducing one could upset the balance, as there would be none like your child before."

"But then how do I-"

"There is a technique," Hagoromo cut him off. "It allows me to strip a soul to its bare essence and have it reincarnated in a new body. I wish to perform this Jutsu on you so that your new mortal self can help create the child who will say the world."

Apollo stared in shock. "But what happens to me? My powers, my memories, everything? I'll just lose all that?"

"No," Hagoromo reassured. "Your memories and powers will be safe. They will simply be locked away for the entirety of your time as a mortal. You will regain them once you die and your soul passes to the afterlife, transforming you into a god again."

"But my domains…I'm supposed to raise the sun every day," Apollo explained.

"Your domains will stay with you and will only return to this world uncontrolled in the event your soul is somehow destroyed, which is practically impossible, so I do not think you should worry about it," Hagoromo responded. "And as for the sun, there are other deities who could perform that duty, correct?'

It was true. If something happened to Apollo, someone else could take his job and raise the sun. As long as mortals believed the sun would rise, someone would do it.

Not to mention that the autopilot on Apollo's chariot could run by itself if he wasn't around. He had begged Hephaestus many years ago so he could stay and party all day long. According to the forger, the autopilot could last for years, but Apollo never went longer than three days max.

"And what about me? Who I am? Do I just…fade away and my mortal self takes over my life?" Apollo asked.

"Not at all," Hagoromo explained. "You will stay by yourself once your mortal life ends. Your mortal self's personality will be added to your personality, creating a mix of the best qualities. Consider it the best of both worlds, with your mortal self allowing you the clarity to make better decisions and improve on yourself."

Apollo considered this. It sounded so perfect, too good to be true, but he knew everything Hagoromo was saying was the truth. Still, he felt he needed to ask "What's the catch?"

"Unfortunately, you will be required to spend several years in my world before you can return. I can send you at an earlier time so the difference is not too great, but even I have a limit to my abilities. When you return, several years will have passed."

"Several years?" Apollo asked. "But…if I'm gone for too long, I won't have any kids when I'm back!"

"Yes I am aware of you and your Olympians desire to have demigod children and followers, and I understand there might be some issues if you return with very few left. I have some alternate solutions for that based on your abilities that we can discuss."

"Now then…are you willing to accept my proposal?"

Apollo thought it carefully. He had no idea what this stranger was capable of, other then what he told him, but his domains were telling him he was being completely honest. And it sounded so bizarre and perfect. A new world to start over with?

But it would mean being gone for who knows how long…what if another war started? What if Zeus became paranoid that someone had kidnapped him and picked a fight with one of his brothers? And his laugh of ease of comfortability, he'd be giving it up for a life of danger and uncertainty, the reason why he was glad that was a God.

"Apollo…" As if sensing his thoughts, Hagoromo spoke. "I have told you everything I can do help. But you must make the choice yourself."

"You said you wanted to regain your sister's trust. Then ask yourself: is it that important to you?"

' _Yes. Yes it was'_

Apollo nodded. "I accept your offer."

The sage gave a brief smile. "Then come, we have much to do before we leave."

* * *

Apollo looked around his golden palace. Only a half-hour ago, the place was filled with all sorts out outlandish decorations dedicated to his ego and statues celebrating his greatness, as well as several musical instruments to play with in his spare time.

But a few minutes of concertation had changed all that.

The room was almost completely barren. All that was left was a small desk in the middle of the room. Without the desk, the temple would have been completely barren. As of now, removing all the ideas made it feel as though no one had lived there. It was as if the warmth of the temple itself had been sucked out. Even the golden wall color looked duller than usual.

Apollo stared at the walls of his temple. For centuries it had been his home, but he felt if that he was getting a fresh start, then it only makes sense for his home to start over with a clean slate too.

Besides, he wanted to make it clear to everyone that he had left of his own free will. Cleaning up his home seemed like a good way to make a statement.

Plus he wanted everyone to be able to easily find what he had left behind.

Slowly, he began gently placing three objects onto the desk. The first was his golden bow, the symbol of his power. He wouldn't be needing it where he was going. The second was his lyre, his most prized possession. He gave it a fond look, remembering all the times he had played with it while composing music.

The third was the most important. A small envelope containing a letter. Only one word was written on the envelope: Artemis.

He felt it was important that he clear the air with his sister. A part of him felt like she would not care, but he at least had to tell her why he was leaving. It took the longest for him to find the rights words to say to his sister, but he felt as if he got it.

Slowly, he looked at his temple for what he knew would be the last time he would be seeing it for years and teleported to a nearby clearing.

"Have you sorted everything you needed to get done?" Hagoromo asked.

"Yes. The chariot's on autopilot and I've left my sacred symbols behind." Apollo replied.

"And the children?"

Apollo nodded. "It worked perfectly."

When Hagoromo and he discussed ideas on how to create a child, the Sage had pointed out that Apollo didn't need to get intimate with a woman. As a god, he could simply use his powers of healing to mix his essence with that of another woman's.

Truth be told, he had done it a few times ago, whenever he had a boyfriend and it was getting serious. But he never did it with a woman before, because, well, where's the fun in that?

So for two hours he had gone looking around for various women, who wanted to have children but were unable to for various reasons. Those who never found the right partner, or were infertile, or just never had the time. He told them who he was and gave them a choice to have a child with him, right now.

10 women accepted. And with that, Apollo had 10 children in the works. Using his powers, he was able to speed or slow down development on several of them, so that the gods would still think he was in this world. Plus he didn't want them to all share the same birthday. Using the mist, he had modified the memories of people around them to think that the women were already pregnant. Nothing would seem off to anyone close to them.

Everything was set for him to leave now. There was just one thing he had left to do.

"I can hide your presence, but you must not speak to her," Hagoromo said.

"I get it," Apollo said. "I just…want to see her one last time."

Hagoromo nodded. Apollo walked carefully off to a nearby bush, and looking through it, he found a small camp filled with silver tents that were pitched. In the center was a campfire, surrounded by young girls, and in the middle was the one he was looking for.

Artemis.

She was smiling as she was talking with her hunters, talking about stories about what they had done today and the adventures they've had before. It was as if what happened several hours again between them never took place. Artemis at one point ended up laughing at a particularly fond memory the hunters were sharing.

When was the last time she ever laughed with him? He honestly couldn't remember.

For a moment, Apollo thought about rushing over and trying to apologize, but he knew she would never accept it. It was the wrong time. He needed to truly prove to her that he was a man of his word.

No, this encounter steeled his resolve. He knew what he had to do.

' _Goodbye, Artemis.'_ Apollo thought. He turned around to the Sage floating beside him.

"I'm ready."

With a nod, Hagoromo concentrated. In a white flash, the two beings had disappeared. Unbeknownst to all, this would be the last time the sun God would be seen for years.

* * *

Apollo blinked. The two of them were now standing in a black void, unlike anything he had seen before.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"We are in the void between worlds," Hagoromo asked. "Here, I can watch over my world in peace. Now let us not waste any more time. I will perform the Jutsu here and reincarnate you as a mortal. Once you pass away, your original self will be unlocked and you will regain all your memories and powers. Are you ready?"

Apollo looked at him with a serious expression. "I am."

"Then this is goodbye Apollo. Until we meet again.

Closing his eyes, the Sage began chanting and began glowing. Suddenly Apollo felt himself growing weaker. His incredible power was being ebbed away, piece by piece. He suddenly realized it wasn't just his powers, but his memories as well. Apollo had been turned into a mortal before whenever Zeus was truly angry at him, but this was nothing like that. In his mortal form, he could recall who he was and the basics of his life. Here, he could feel himself being taken apart piece by piece, becoming nothing more than his essence, a soul itself.

He supposed he could take comfort in that if his mortal reincarnation was a good man, then that would mean that at his core, Apollo truly was good.

Feeling at peace with himself, Apollo closed his eyes, until at last he knew no more.

* * *

Artemis looked over her hunters, contemplating the choice she was about to make by weighing the pros and cons.

They had just spent the last two weeks chasing the Hydra. It had gone on a rampage and had begun the attack, random mortals and demigods. After weeks of tracking, they were able to finally locate it and destroy it, sending it back to the underworld. Not a single one of her hunters perished in the fight, but several of them had been injured. Nothing life-threatening, but it would take weeks or perhaps months to get them back to full strength.

Artemis gave a soft smile at that miracle. She always dreaded losing one of her hunters and seeing them all surviving the difficult miracle filled her with pride. But now that smile was gone as she knew only one way to have her hunters healed.

Asking her brother, Apollo.

She had to admit, she was surprised and a little disappointed that Apollo didn't show up the day after their big blow out to try and apologize. She had expected him to joke or even beg to be forgiven, but he never appeared. She briefly was worried that something had happened, but a look to the sky showed his chariot was sailing across it, which ended those fears. If anything, seeing it was a confirmation that was right all along. He truly didn't care what she said to him.

She admitted to herself that a part of her felt guilty for what she said to her brother. She still remembered the days growing up on Delos, before being Olympians. At that point, Apollo was still a genuinely good man. Sure, he could be annoying and overprotective, but he was still kind, caring, compassionate, and thoughtful.

But after they became Olympians, she noticed a shift in her brother. He slowly began pushing her away and started hanging out with the other male gods, and in turn, started acting like them. He became more arrogant and conceited, loudly proclaiming how he was perfection, and going out drinking with his friends while boasting about all the women he had recently bed.

It was a shock to the moon goddesses to see what was happening to her brother. She kept expecting him to eventually snap out of it, that after some time, he would wake up, realize what a pig he was becoming, and go back to normal. Artemis could have at least accepted it if he had acknowledged he had made mistakes and was willing to atone.

But it never happened. He instead continued to get worse and more depraved, and nothing Artemis ever said to him sank in. Eventually, she started to pull away from her brother as well and began spending more and more time with her hunters. They were her true family in a sense. When Apollo first appeared to visit, she was relieved. She had assumed that Apollo had come over to apologize and spend time with her and get to know her hunters. The reunion went well…for about 30 seconds until Apollo began openly hitting on the hunters.

Artemis started to feel contempt for her younger brother. She continued to pull away from him, and in return, he kept acting like a bigger fool every century. She could feel her hope that her brother would return to his sense disappear slowly until finally, he had crossed the line. She finally understood now that her brother was gone, and in return all that was left was an arrogant womanizer, a typical male. That was when she decided to cut him out of her life.

She felt sorry for that former maiden. As a mortal, she could not truly enter the camps as she was not a demigod, but she could not join the Hunters. After confirming that she was not pregnant, she asked her if she had distant relatives and after confirming she did far off in Texas, she teleported them there and used the mist to wipe everyone's memories of meeting her. She would go on to live a normal life now and remember her experience with Apollo as a one-off from an old boyfriend instead.

When she got back, she spent the rest of the night with her Hunters to try and forget about it. And it worked, until the next day when she realized Apollo wasn't going to show up. She understood that she had made the right choice.

And yet…she couldn't get that image of despair out she saw on Apollo's face before she left him. She had never seen it before. Could that mean that-

She shook her head. No, it was just a trick of her imagination. The old Apollo was gone. He had to be.

After thinking it over, she decided that her Hunters health meant more to her than her problems with Apollo. She decided to summon him, and when he showed up and try to act like a flirting idiot again, this time she wouldn't respond or do anything. She would ignore him, as her way of showing that she was finally done with him.

"Apollo, I require your aid," Artemis said. And she waited. A minute passed. Then another minute.

Five minutes had passed and Artemis had gotten a little annoyed. Apollo had never ignored her like this before.

"Apollo, I need your help," Artemis said, figuring that this would cause him to appear. Still nothing.

' _He must be in bed with someone…'_ Artemis bitterly thought. "Apollo, my hunters will die without your help!"

It was a lie, but she believed that hearing those words would spring Apollo to action if only to show off how 'great' he was.

After an hour had passed, Artemis was furious. _'What is going on?! He's never been this late before!'_

It was time to go to Olympus and confront Apollo. He was going to regret blowing her off like this!

Artemis went back to her camp and found her lieutenant, Zoe Nightshade. "Zoe, I'm going to Olympus. It shouldn't be too long. If anyone attacks, pray for me and I will arrive as soon as I can."

Zoe nodded. "Yes, my lady. Is everything alright?"

"It's fine. I just need to talk to someone for a while," Artemis said, not wanting to admit she was asking Apollo for help. "Until then, you are in charge."

"I will keep thy hunters safe, milady. Thou needeth not worry."

Artemis smiled and then teleported in a flash, arriving in front of Apollo's temple. She knocked on the door.

"Apollo, I asked for your assistance."

Nothing.

"Apollo," Artemis growled, before knocking on the door harder. "Apollo!"

Still nothing. Now she was angry. It was time to teach him a lesson.

Concentrating her strength, Artemis broke the door down and prepared to scream at her brother after catching him in whatever devious deed he was doing.

Only to freeze in surprise at what she saw.

The temple was empty. Save for a small desk near the front, it looked as if no one had ever lived here. There was nothing on the walls, or the floor, nothing. An empty temple.

Artemis stared in confusion, wondering what was going on, before a soft voice cried out "Artemis? You're back?"

She turned around to see it was only Hestia, staring at her in surprise. "Hestia! Yes, my hunt went well. I was planning on making a report to the council, but first I wanted Apollo to heal my Hunters. Where is he? I can't locate him."

At the mention of Apollo, Hestia's eyes turned melancholy and regretful.

"Hestia? What's wrong?" Artemis asked.

"I'm sorry niece…I wanted to tell you. We all did. But Zeus ordered us not to for fear of distracting you from your hunt."

"Distract me with what?" Artemis replied. "What has my brother done now?"

Hestia hesitated for a moment, before replying "We don't know. That's the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Artemis…no one has seen Apollo in two weeks."

Artemis looked at her in confusion. "What?" she replied. "That's ridiculous. How can he be missing? I see his sun chariot every morning."

"The chariot has been on autopilot for two weeks," Hestia replied. "Hephaestus examined it and confirmed that no has been in it for the last two weeks."

Artemis couldn't help but look back in shock. "Two weeks? But…"

"Artemis," Hestia responded sadly. "We've tried having Iris IM Apollo, but she can't find him. And he is no longer connect to my hearth. We've even asked Hades, and he confirmed that he is not in the underworld. Your brother has simply just…vanished."

"No, that's impossible!" Artemis replied, sounding desperate. "This is all just a joke. He's hiding and trying to prank us, that's all! He wouldn't just leave-"

"Artemis," Hestia responded in a surprisingly strict tone for her. "When we looked inside his temples for clues, all we could find was his bow and lyre."

Artemis looked as though she had been slapped in the face. His precious bow and lyre? The two things he loved the most in this world? He left them behind? But why? What would drive him to do that?

Slowly a creeping, cold feeling of guilt was making its way into her.

It couldn't be her fault, could it? Apollo was supposed to be selfish now, he couldn't have cared about she said!

"And…there is one more thing," Hestia replied. She slowly took out what was an envelope hidden in her brown robes. "I debated whether to tell the council or not, but since it is addressed to you, I believe you should have been the one to read it first."

Indeed, on the front, written in Apollo's handwriting was her name.

Slowly, she grabbed the envelope, opened it, and began to read its contents.

_Artemis_

_If you're reading this, then that means I've disappeared, and no one knows where I am. Don't worry, I haven't been kidnapped and I'm not being forced again my will to write this letter, but this will be the last time you will see me for a long while. I thought a lot about what you said to me that night, and I realized that you were right. I am arrogant, I am selfish, and all I cared about was myself. I was so full of myself, I convinced myself that everyone loved who I was. I never realized how much I was hurting you until you finally told me the truth. I wish I had known it before, but I don't blame you for hating me. I've become everything you hate in men, and I don't have anyone to blame but myself for it. That's why I've decided to go away for a bit, and rediscover myself. Don't worry, you can tell dad my domains are still safe with me. When I come back, I won't be the same Apollo you knew. I don't know what kind of man I'll be, but it's hopefully one you can be proud of to call a brother._

_Because the truth is Artemis….I need you more then you need me. You have your Hunters, your real family. All I have are one night stands and people who just hang around me to party. I've wasted my eternal life while you've grown to have a big family of daughters who love you. I think that's why I started pretending you were my little sister, so that I could convince myself that I was a responsible brother, and that you still needed me to look after you. I'm sorry I was such a lousy brother._

_But honestly, I don't even know if you care anymore or not. You're probably happy to be reading this, knowing that I'm gone and you won't be seeing me for years. I don't blame you honestly. I'd hate to be related to me either. But now you can live your life free from me and be happy with your real family sis. I only hope you'll give the new me a fair chance to prove himself._

_Goodbye Arty._

_Apollo._

With every word she read, Artemis felt as though a cold dagger was jabbing itself through her heart. She couldn't fight back against the strong feelings of guilt she had from what she just read, the true feelings of her brother. The kind, compassionate brother she had dismissed as gone had given her one last message before disappearing for an unknown number of years.

And she had no one to blame but myself.

"It's my fault," Artemis whispered.

"Artemis?" Hestia asked, overhearing her niece's words and seeing the look of despair on her face as she stared at the letter.

"He's gone, Hestia," Artemis replied in a tone that hid none of her despair. "Apollo left….because of me."

Hestia stared in shocked as she saw Artemis collapse on her knees onto the floor in grief. Immediately, she began hugging and comforting her, as tears began to well up in Artemis eyes' as it finally dawned to her the consequences of what happened that night, and that she might never see her brother again.

* * *

Unbeknownst the Olympians, in another world, where it was run by the shinobi of the Elemental Nations, in the village of Konoha, hidden in the leaves, in a small house, was a mother gently rocking her newborn baby.

This baby had yellow hair so bright it reminded people of the sun itself, and blue eyes brimming with happiness.

In another world, this baby was one Apollo, a god, but here, he was just a mortal baby. That aspect of him had been locked away and would not return for many years.

Until that day came, he was no longer Apollo.

He was Minato Namikaze, the future Fouth Hokage, and his actions would help to save this world.


	2. Chapter One: Rebirth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 15 years have passed, and a changed Apollo returns home.

Chapter One: Rebirth

"…and with that, I'm happy to report that monster sightings have been slightly lower than average, but still in acceptable levels," finished Athena.

Her father simply nodded in response before looking around at the other thrones around himself. This was Olympus, the city of the gods. Today was the summer solstice, the day when all the Olympians came together to discuss recent events and report any sightings of any uprisings or any other form of threat.

All except for one god.

"Thank you, daughter," Zeus replied. "Now, before I end this meeting, has anyone seen any new signs of Apollo?"

At this, the majority of the gods had forlorn expressions on their faces. Artemis in particular looked distraught, her silver eyes dull and tired, as they always did whenever the subject of her brother was brought up at a meeting. She slowly moved her head to Apollo's throne, still empty as it had been for so many years.

It had been 15 years since Apollo's disappearance. The day after he had vanished, no one had noticed that Apollo was missing at first. They had just assumed he was off partying or trying to seduce someone, as usual.

It wasn't until Hermes came to Apollo's temple for delivery and eventually teleported inside when there was no response that he discovered the temple was completely empty. He immediately teleported into the throne room, but the only one there was Hestia, tending to the hearth as always. When he explained that Apollo's temple was empty, a shocked Hestia immediately attempted to locate him through the hearth, only to have no such luck in doing so. She then joined Hermes searching through Apollo's temple, only able to find his bow, his lyre, and a letter. Hestia had talked Hermes into not telling Zeus at first, feeling it was appropriate that Artemis should read it first, as it had been assigned to her.

Unable to locate him, they found Zeus, who attempted to call Apollo through an IM, only to get the call rejected. After that, they called an emergency council meeting, summoning every Olympian except for Artemis. After getting over the dawning realization that Apollo had disappeared and that this wasn't just some bad joke, they tried to investigate where he could have gone. A close examination of his chariot revealed he had left on autopilot since yesterday, but no clues could be found.

The Olympians began to worry. What if Apollo had been captured and killed? So Hades was given a rare summons to Olympus and asked if Apollo was in the underworld, to which the shocked god replied he was not.

Eventually, Zeus decided that they should discreetly attempt to locate him, without alerting any of the demigods to keep the information secret from their enemies. He also ordered everyone not to tell Artemis until her latest hunt had been completed, to prevent her from being distracted.

After Artemis had read the letter and Hestia managed to calm her down, the two summoned the rest of the Olympians for an emergency meeting. Artemis had revealed the events between her and Apollo, and about how he had left because of her.

To say Zeus was furious was understating it. He had been angry and screamed at Artemis over it. He blamed her for Apollo's disappearance, meaning that an Olympian was now missing in the world. They had no idea when or if he would be able to return.

The rest of the gods were shocked. Zeus had never yelled at Artemis before, ever. It was a loose secret that she was his favorite daughter. Seeing Zeus screaming at her was a slap in the face for the moon goddess, making her feel even more guilty over what happened.

Of course, Zeus didn't care at all about Apollo's fate. In Zeus' eyes, Apollo was a womanizing, hot-headed moron who thought between his legs and never with his brain (naturally, no one would ever bring up that these traits all came from Zeus, for fear of their life). But he was still an Olympian- a very powerful one too- so for the sake of his throne, Zeus wanted Apollo found or a replacement instated.

A few months passed, and with no results, Zeus announced at the winter solstice meeting that they would find a new replacement for Apollo, despite Artemis and Hermes' protests. They knew if that happened, Apollo would be considered as good as dead, and Zeus would never order another manhunt to find his lost son since, in his eyes, he had everything he needed. Their cries fell on deaf ears, as Zeus ordered Athena to assist him in removing Apollo's domains by force.

Much to their shock, the attempt failed. No matter how much power they exerted, the domains would not leave Apollo. The moment Apollo's domains leave him, his golden throne would revert to a plain white throne until a new Olympian took his domain, as the throne was an embodiment of one's soul and a replacement for Apollo would result in the throne having its appearance altered. As long as Apollo's throne stayed the same, they knew he was still alive. And no matter what they did, the throne never changed. Even calling upon the minor gods such as Hecate did nothing to help, as they had no answers.

Out of options, and in fear of what would happen if word leaked out to their enemies, Zeus ordered that Apollo's disappearance was kept a secret from anyone outside of Olympus. Only Chiron, who ran Camp Half-Blood, was let in on the secret to keep it from Apollo's children.

This created some problems with Apollo's children at the camps. When some of Apollo's children began showing up at the camp in the last few years, the Olympians were ecstatic. They knew it was a sign he was alright and expected him to claim his children. Sadly, that did not happen, and the Gods were worried about what would happen if none of his children were claimed. Apollo truly loved his kids and claimed all of them as soon as they appeared in camp. But with his disappearance, there had been a drought of his children coming to the camp, at most one or two a year. Until the last three years, when there were suddenly a handful of children coming to the camp.

The Gods had needed to hide Apollo's vanishing act, so they decided to simply claim his children in his place. It had never been done before, but it was possible. Unfortunately, there was a massive problem with that idea. The reason why gods never claimed another's god's child for them: they had no idea which ones actually belonged to that god. Typically, most gods resembled their children in some way, usually having the same hair color and, in most cases, eye color, but that wasn't always the case. Only the god themselves could know who their child was, and that was if they even cared. So the duty of acknowledging Apollo's kids was put on Hermes and Artemis' shoulders, the two who knew him the best. They tried their best, studying their appearances, personalities, and abilities of the demigods, but knew they had missed some. Also, Apollo's children never received anything from their father or even had a visit. To hide his disappearance at the Winter Solstice meetings, they would claim that Apollo was too busy or was running an important task.

As a result, Apollo's children had a dim view of their father. They felt unloved and unwanted, and it hurt them since they didn't understand why. They were considered the jokes of the camp, the ones who were rejected by an uncaring father. And that's how it had been for 15 years.

Zeus stared at everyone. Seeing that no one was going to volunteer any information, he sighed. "I suppose it's too good to hope he will return. Still, it has been too long. I believe we should try to assign a new god to take his domains by the winter solstice."

"You can't!" Hermes said. "We have no idea where he is! Without his domains, he could be in danger!"

"And as we've established before Father, the domains refuse to leave him," Athena replied in a level tone.

Zeus gave a soft growl before taking a glance at Apollo's throne. "I know, but I still don't like it. An Olympian being gone for this long… it worries me."

"Then let us discuss it at the Winter Solstice brother," Poseidon offered. "Once we are all here, we can vote and discuss any possibilities on who to replace Apollo if he still hasn't returned yet."

Zeus nodded since it was a good point. More time meant they could think it over on who to replace him with. "If that is all, then this meeting is adjourned." And with that, he disappeared in a flash. Soon everyone followed him, except for two.

Artemis continued to stare in despair at Apollo's empty throne, her eyes pleading as though begging for him to return, to just flash in on them and yell, "Surprise!" or some other stupid stunt like he always did. But the seat remained empty, as it had for the last fifteen years.

After a few minutes, Artemis flashed back to her camp. The goddesses of the moon had never been known to stay on Olympus for long before. Still, outside council meetings, she couldn't bear to return and be forced to spend time staring at that empty throne now.

From her place at the hearth, Hestia stared at where Artemis had teleported from, a sad look in her eyes. She could feel the guilt Artemis had through her connection to the hearth and family, and the desperate hope that her brother would return someday. A hope that was getting weaker every year.

In some small way, Hestia felt as if this was her fault for not intervening. Everyone had known for centuries the worsening relationship between Apollo and Artemis. Still, Hestia could sense how genuinely awful it had become thanks to her domains. The only other god who could detect such feelings was Hera; however, Hestia knew that her sister didn't care about the twin archer's well-being, seeing them as nothing more than Zeus' bastard children getting their dues. Hestia even strongly suspected that her sister was happy about what had happened between the two but said nothing.

When they had first arrived on Olympus, Hestia noticed how much the two siblings loved each other. Apollo was a little hot-headed, and Artemis stubborn, but the two had a deep love for each other that warmed her heart. She knew that they cared for each other and would do anything to protect the other.

But as the years went on, the bond between the twins was weakening. As much she tried to help her understand, she knew Artemis had a grudge against men that couldn't be sated. As Apollo started picking more traits from his father, she began to pull away from him. After the Hunters were formed, Artemis practically spent all of her time with them. Apollo's efforts to woo them only weakened the bond between the two.

She wondered if she should have interfered, but she never felt comfortable getting involved with family disputes unless lives were at stake. She tried to be subtle with her remarks to Apollo, but he always ignored her, and the bond between the twins kept growing fainter- at least from Artemis' end.

Then one night, she finally felt it. Artemis' love and compassion for her brother vanished, replaced by cold contempt for him. She knew Apollo had finally gone too far in his sister's eyes and lost her respect. Despite this, she still didn't intervene. She felt as though Apollo needed time to process what had happened. She figured that Apollo would try to visit Artemis and fix things between them in the morning, and she could serve as a mediator. She was surprised and confused when she saw the sun chariot in the sky first thing in the morning, but didn't look into it, believing that Apollo was just getting it out of the way before he talked to his sister.

Then Hermes came running in a few hours later asking for help, and everything fell apart.

After Artemis' return to Olympus, Hestia confessed that she could sense what had happened and blamed herself for not helping.

With silver eyes that looked bloodshot, Artemis replied, "Don't blame yourself, it's my fault. I did this. I drove him away."

How ironic that Apollo leaving is what brought back the sisterly love Artemis had for her brother. Every day she regretted her decision and hoped that Apollo would return so they could set things right. But that hope was fading away more and more with passing time, like a candle about to be snuffed out.

Sighing, Hestia returned to concentrating on tendering the hearth. She could try to give Artemis another pep talk, but she knew that only one thing could heal her heart.

_'Please Apollo, I hope you return soon,'_ Hestia thought. ' _Your sister needs you. You're the only one who can help her.'_

* * *

Minato Namikaze was feeling relieved, and a little bit proud too.

It had been a fierce battle at the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, but Kaguya had been defeated, and everyone was safe now. His son had saved the world with the help of his friends and had brought peace to the land.

His son. He couldn't believe that it had been 16 years since he sacrificed himself to save the village. Minato regretted what he did, but he felt that he could only trust his son to control Kyuubi's power.

He had no idea what had happened over the last few years until Orochimaru explained it. Once you were trapped in the belly of the Shinigami, it was as if time stopped. The last thing he could recall was finishing the seal with his wife. During the talk with Orochimaru, he absorbed the part of his chakra that he left behind to talk with Naruto. He could regain those memories, so he knew at least he was still alive.

Now he could take comfort knowing the world would be safe. Naruto had grown up into a fine young man, and he would be there to guide the world into a more peaceful state. His only regret was that he couldn't have watched him grow up.

He started to disintegrate, and as he felt his body fall apart, he thought, 'Kushina, I'll see you soon.'

And then Minato's body was destroyed.

And he woke up in a strange dark realm. He couldn't understand what was going on or why he was here when suddenly, his head felt like it was slammed into a wall.

He gasped as a rush of memories flooded his head, memories that had been long since sealed. It was as if a dam in his mind had just been broken through. And as the memories flooded, he could feel himself getting stronger, becoming more than a man.

And soon, he remembered everything.

He was Apollo.

A god from another world.

And from those memories, he also saw everything he had ever done. It was if he was going fast-forward on his life. He saw his birth, his fight with Python, his ascension, everything.

Including why he was here in the first place.

'Artemis!' Apollo thought frantically. How could he have forgotten his twin sister? But as the memories returned and he saw his last days, he understood why. If he was already disgusted by his actions as Apollo, seeing them as Minato hurt even more. He couldn't believe all the terrible and disrespectful things he had done to his sister, and to so many people throughout the eons. He felt as though he deserved to be gone.

He wondered if Artemis even cared he was gone. He couldn't blame her if she didn't.

"So, you've returned to your true self."

Apollo turned around to see a familiar man floating above the ground, looking at him at eye level.

"Yes, your plan worked perfectly Hagoromo," Apollo said. "But…"

"But what?"

"Why am I only regaining my memories now? I thought it was meant to happen when I died, but I've been dead for over 16 years?" Apollo questioned.

"Ah, I believe the answer is the Reaper Death Seal technique you used," Hagoromo responded. "When the Shinigami took your soul, he left it in a form of stasis, keeping your soul frozen at where it was. A soul naturally goes to the afterlife. To prevent that, the Shinigami preserved yours at your moment of death, keeping it as it was and preventing you from shedding your mortal body. When the Shinigami's belly was slit open, the resurrection jutsu restored your body to how it was at the moment before death. In that way, your body was still Minato. If you had not sealed yourself away, you would have transformed earlier and could not have been resurrected the way you had been."

Apollo took a moment to let it sink in. He had never really thought of how long he would have been gone. He had been gone for over three decades at this point without being Apollo. But thinking it over made him realize how long he had been gone without being a god and being a mortal.

There had been times when he had been a mortal, sure. But he always retained some memories of his former life. Of who he was and what he was.

But being Minato was different. He had no memories to draw upon, as he was a new person in a new form. He had no memories of his past, nothing to draw upon to remind him of who he was. He was basically a blank canvas, from which a new personality and character arose from his ashes. Putting back the memories and experiences of his life restored his old self. Still, having been Minato for so long, he couldn't help but look back at his previous experiences from his perspective, and what he saw filled him with shame. Even though his time as Minato was a proverbial raindrop in the bucket that had been his entire life, Apollo's time as a shinobi- and for a short time, a father- had a significant impact on him.

A part of him was appalled at how many women he slept around with and how many children he left behind. Apollo always hated how he couldn't take care of his children, but the part of him that was Minato even more so. One of his biggest dreams was to have a huge family, a dream that never happened because of Obito and Madara. To find out that he had that big family all along was something of bitter irony to him.

And there were the many, many mistakes he had made over the years. Daphne, Orion, and so on. He had been a poor god, and while the "younger" Apollo would have denied it, he now had years from an outside perspective to look at it and realize just how much he had screwed up over the years.

Moreover, he was bothered by just how bad his relationship with his family was. Outside of Hermes and Hestia, Apollo didn't think he had a single family member who he could confidently say he was close to. They all looked at him with shame, and a part of him couldn't help but agree with it. His father hated almost all of his kids, Hera….well she hated everyone pretty much.

And the only other one who cared about him was…

_'Artemis,'_ Apollo thought sadly. Finally, remembering his sister brought back the emotions of that fateful night. He wondered if she even cared he was gone.

"How do you feel?"

Apollo blinked. "Huh?"

"I said, how do you feel?" Hagoromo said. "Now that you are a god again."

Apollo wasn't sure how to sum it up in words. How do you describe godhood to another god? From being a normal man to someone who could feel the sun's power, having shed the confines of morality?

"I feel… stronger," Apollo finally answered.

Hagoromo nodded, a small smile on his face. "Now, it is time for you to return home."

"What, already?" Apollo asked.

"Is there a reason why you need to stay in this dimension?" Hagoromo asked.

"What about Naruto?" Apollo blurted out. He couldn't just leave him alone. Minato finally had a chance to have his son back to his life, who he cursed with a hard life. He couldn't just leave him alone again.

"You cannot stay with him," Hagoromo bluntly said. Perhaps he could have been more subtle, but he knew that Apollo was stubborn, and dragging this out would only cause problems. Better to be as blunt as possible. "You are a god. You must return to your pantheon and reclaim your place. As long as you stay here, your domains will be lost to your world. The gods are weaker without you, but they are not as prepared to face the challenges of their world by themselves. Could you stand it if thousands, maybe millions, died because you wanted to stay with your son?"

Apollo couldn't look at him in the eye. He knew had a point. It wasn't easy to accept, yet he knew it was the truth.

But still….

"What if I took him with me?" asked Apollo desperately.

"No," Hagoromo replied and shook his head. "Naruto has too many bonds and connections here. To have him leave this world, to live with you, would be asking him to reject the friends he has made here. What do you think he would say to this? Do you believe he would be happier without them? Furthermore, he is needed to help bring peace to the world. Without him, that peace will die."

More points Apollo couldn't argue with. Honestly, what would he even say to Naruto? Pop up, go "Hey son, I'm a god, let's go live in my world!" and then take him away? Or just kidnap him in his sleep, leave a note behind to get around the ancient laws, and send him on his way? He didn't think his son would accept that.

"And there is also the issue of your father," Hagoromo continued. "Do you really believe that Zeus would accept Naruto, of what he could do and his power if he discovered his existence?"

Apollo was forced to reply with the truth. "No, he wouldn't." If Zeus ever met Naruto, he would have him either killed or ordered to swear an eternal oath of loyalty. Naruto would never accept that, and he knew a fight between the two would only end in disaster.

And more importantly, it would almost certainly end with his father dead. And while he wasn't his father's biggest fan, a dead Zeus would throw Olympus into total chaos, and their enemies would try to seize the opportunity to attack as soon as they found out. Not to mention what would happen if any other god tried to oppose Naruto and got killed too. And if Zeus actually managed to win somehow and kill his son, then Apollo would be damn sure to avenge his death, no matter what, which would also throw Olympus into chaos.

No, he couldn't force his son into that position. It wasn't fair.

Apollo took a moment to collect his thoughts. "I understand why I can't bring him…but he is still my son. I can't just forget about him."

"You won't have to. You will see Naruto again in the future. But not right now."

Apollo stared. "Are you serious?"

"I have never lied to you before, Apollo." Hagoromo simply stated.

"But still…if I leave here, then what about…" Apollo couldn't finish his sentence.

"Your wife?" Hagoromo asked.

Kushina. It was hard to imagine that his wife was dead for over a decade. He always loved her, ever since the day she met. She was different from the other kunoichi at the academy, so full of life, determined to make a mark and not afraid to be in a fight. And her hair was so beautiful, he couldn't help staring at it. He never worked up the nerve for years, but he never fell out of love with her. The day he proposed was one of the happiest days of his life. She was his other half, and he couldn't imagine a world without her.

And she had died before ever finding out the truth about him.

When Apollo fell in love, he fell deeply. And his immortal life was full of tragic love stories. This was no exception. He was still so madly in love with Kushina, and regaining his memories of who he used to be only made it hurt worse. He wished that he could rejoin her, but he knew that it was impossible. He didn't belong here, and he could never visit the afterlife here the way he was now.

That didn't mean it didn't hurt, though.

"Perhaps this is not the end of her story," Hagoromo responded.

"What do you mean?" Apollo asked.

"I can say no more. All I can say is that you must return home now." Hagoromo responded.

"But…" Apollo began.

"Apollo," Hagoromo said in a taut tone. "I did not wish to tell you this, but you must return home. If not for yourself and for your family, then do it for your sister."

"Artemis doesn't care anymore," Apollo responded in a sad tone. "She has moved on."

"No," Hagoromo responded. "She has spent the last few years mourning your loss. She has regretted her actions and wishes to see you again, to make up for what happened. Your sister has never been the same since you left and is desperate to find you again."

Those words made Apollo froze with shock.

'Artemis misses me?' he thought.

And he felt guilt. Guilt that his running away had caused her to be in this state of grief.

No matter what he did, it seemed like all he knew how to do was hurt the people he loved.

_'I really am a screwup…'_ Apollo bitterly thought. He clenched his knuckles in frustration.

_'No more.'_

He stared at the sage, dead in his eyes.

"Take me home."

Hagoromo nodded and began to concentrate his powers. "I told you a price must be paid for what we did. 15 years will have passed since you left your world. I cannot tell you all that has happened or what will come, only that you must prepare for it. I trust you to make the right choices, Apollo. I believe we will see each other again someday. Until then, farewell, and safe travels."

As the darkness covered him, Apollo closed his eyes in anticipation.

He was going home.

* * *

Staring around the camp, Zoe Nightshade looked on with pride. The hunters had set everything up correctly and had cleaned up everything before heading to their tents after dinner. As lieutenant of the Hunt, she liked to look around the area and make sure everything was safe.

However, the task was slightly more difficult due to how dark it was. Indeed, if you looked up, you could barely even see the moon. That didn't seem unusual, unless you knew that for the past 15 years, the moon was always dark on the same night as Apollo's disappearance, regardless of what the lunar cycle had been beforehand. Mortals were attempting to find an answer to this problem.

But everyone in the Hunt knew what the answer was.

It was Artemis' way of grieving for her lost brother.

It had been a massive shock to everyone in the Hunt when Artemis returned from Olympus 15 years ago with a distraught expression announcing that Apollo had vanished for a week. A manhunt was conducted for the lost god before everyone in the Hunt had been sworn to secrecy. For her part, Zoe couldn't believe it at first and thought the sun god was pulling another elaborate prank on everyone until a month had passed and there was still no sign of him.

The idea of Apollo having disappeared worried Zoe. Not because she cared about him, but because he was an Olympian. Although Apollo embodied many of the traits the hunters hated in men, Zoe had enough common sense to realize that having an Olympian vanished was a sign of trouble. For the past 15 years, the hunters had been continuing to fight monsters, but no matter what, they never found any sign of Apollo. They were never given an official mention to search for him, to keep up appearances. Still, they occasionally search through old temples and other areas he frequented for signs of him. They never found anything.

While everyone in the Hunt was shocked at the news, some took it a little harder than most. A few hunters were daughters of Apollo, and while they did not have the best relationship with their father, they still cared for him somewhat and were depressed that he was gone. Zoe could admit that, at the very least, Apollo was not depraved enough to hit on his own daughters and treated them decently. However, he was never close to them.

Ronnie, the youngest daughter at only 200 years of age, had the best relationship and missed him the most. Val, having been with the Hunt for 900 years, was a bit more closed off but still was depressed he was gone. The one that worried Zoe the most was Atlanta. She had been in the Hunt for thousands of years and was one of the oldest members, almost as old as Zoe herself. The two were close, but her relationship with her father was never the best. She had been born in a time where women had virtually no rights, and her father doing very little to protect her or raise her had left a sour history and broken bond that had never really healed. After her mother died, Atlanta lived in the woods to avoid being sold as property until Artemis found her. When she found out about her father, she was furious with him and practically disowned him. Apollo never said more than two words to her because of this.

And yet, Zoe could tell that it did bother her. She never asked Atlanta because she felt it wasn't her place.

After finishing checking the area, Zoe went inside the tent belonging to her patron. She saw Artemis kneeling, staring at an object hanging on the wall.

It was Apollo's golden bow.

Out of everyone in the Hunt, Artemis took the news the worst. For over a month, the goddess was depressed and barely able to concentrate on hunting, having a permeant depressed expression. It took much consoling from both the hunters and Hestia to get Artemis out of her shell and bring her back to normalcy. However, she would still get in a forlorn mood if anyone brought up Apollo. She would become quieter in the week leading up to the day of his disappearance. Whenever that day was finally reached, Artemis would retreat to her tent for the night, not even being able to go out and set her moon chariot to autopilot. And she would stare at Apollo's bow, one of the only objects he had left behind, and kept it with her in her tent.

"Zoe?" Artemis asked.

"Thy perimeter has been searched, milady. Everything is fine." Zoe responded.

"Thank you, Zoe," Artemis said without turning around.

Silence. Then a few moments later…

"Mi'lady?" Zoe tentatively asked. "How…how are thou feeling?"

She felt it was wrong to ask her goddess of this, but she had to do something. Artemis had given so much to her, that it was wrong to try and not help her back.

Artemis didn't say anything. Then, she slowly turned to stare at Zoe. The young hunter could see how red her lady's eyes were, the broken expression of defeat on her face.

"He… he wasn't so bad in the beginning," Artemis murmured, half to her hunter and half to herself.

"Apollo?" Zoe asked.

Artemis nodded. "He was never a perfect man, but when we were children, he was… different. He was always a jokester, and he would like to brag, and he had a full head, but… he was still kind. He cared for Mother and me. He was worried about what would happen to us if we were out of sight. He might have been annoying and overprotective, but he truly did want the best for us."

"But when we went to Olympus and received our domains, everything changed. He started hanging out with the likes of Ares and Hermes, and slowly began to act more like them. He stopped hanging around me to party with them every day. He bedded women every day without remorse or care. I couldn't comprehend what was happening to him. I felt like I was losing my brother. So… I pushed him away. I couldn't stand what was happening to him. I think that was a part of why I started distrusting men so much. They had taken so much from women, and now they were taking my brother away too."

"When I last saw him all those years ago, I felt… I felt as though I truly lost him. That my brother was gone forever, and all that left was another pig. I threw him away so I could never see him again. But when he left, I felt like I lost a part of myself. He had left a note saying that he was leaving, and I realized that my brother, my real brother, was still inside of that shell of a pig, and I had never noticed."

"I could have helped him, saved him from becoming what he ended up as, but I ignored him and cast him aside, and he only became worse. It's my fault. If I had only reached out to him, I could have had him by my side. I should have done something! But I failed. I failed as an older sister, and I abandoned him." Artemis finished, sounding almost like she was on the verge of tears.

Zoe was stunned. She had never seen her lady so close to coming apart. Zoe wondered what she should do. She couldn't just dismiss Apollo as another male pig and tell her to move on. So Zoe had to do what she had never done before.

Lie to Artemis.

"Mi'lady, do not feel discouraged," Zoe said carefully. "Thou did the best thy could. Every man is responsible for his own choices, thy brother included. Take comfort in knowing that thy brother did feel shame for his actions and seeks to improve himself. Many men are too ignorant of their faults to change. Thou brother will return and at least try to be a better man."

It hurt her, lying like this. She knew Apollo could never change. Men never could. But she had to say something to comfort her patron. It worked too, as Artemis broke out in a small smile before getting up to hug Zoe.

"Thank you, Zoe," Artemis said. "I knew I could rely on you. Go to sleep, it's getting late. I'll see you in the morning."

Zoe nodded and returned to her own tent. Artemis decided to go to sleep herself. Like all gods, she did not need to sleep, but she did enjoy having a visit from Morpheus and experiencing a dream.

She dreamed of better days, of days with her brother when they were children.

* * *

Apollo opened his eyes. He looked around. He was in the middle of a forest. He wasn't sure where he was, but Apollo knew one thing: he was back home.

He could feel his godly power having returned to its full strength. He could feel the domains he had not used in so long. And he could feel his beloved sun chariot, making its way up in the sky.

Concentrating, Apollo located it and flashed into it. It had been so long since he had flashed, but it was like riding a bicycle- you never forget. He leaned back into his car's seat and sighed. It had been so long since he had driven his chariot. Whenever he had a problem, he would just lean back and enjoy a relaxing ride to clear his head.

But right now, he wasn't here for fun. Using the chariot, he looked down at the ground to find his target. And after 20 minutes, he found what he was looking for: the Hunters of Artemis' campsite, currently in Virginia.

He knew he should teleport first to Olympus, but he didn't care. He had to meet up with his sister and apologize for what had happened; to explain what he had been doing and tell the truth.

He knew he could never tell Zeus what had happened. To inform his father about Hagoromo and his power, the existence of another dimension, the Bijuu, everything, would make him more paranoid than ever. He would never rest until Hagoromo was either dead or captured. Apollo was sure the sage could actually beat his father in a fight, but he didn't want him to burden him with this. He respected and owed him a lot. So his existence would be a secret that Apollo would only tell few. But he would not lie to his sister.

Grinning, Apollo teleported into the middle of the camp. He wondered how surprised they would be to see him after 15 years.

His answer came swiftly when he teleported in front of the cold campfire. A hunter was finishing extinguishing it, only to gasp at seeing someone flash in front of her.

She screamed.

"Well, that could have gone better," Apollo thought.

Soon enough, practically every hunter came out, wielding a bow and arrow. And at the front was a very angry Zoe Nightshade.

"How did thou get here?!" She demanded.

Apollo smiled jovially. "Hey Zoe!"

That only seemed to make her shocked and even angrier than before. "How does thou know my name?! Who are thou, male?!"

"What? Zoe, it's me…" Apollo said, bringing his arm up to wave, only to notice what was on his arm sleeve.

His Hokage robes. And then he realized something.

He had never changed back to his godly form.

He still looked like Minato.

Who the Hunters had never met.

"Shit," he murmured.

"Take him down!" Zoe commanded.

Apollo quickly dodged the flurry of arrows and ran outside of the camp with the hunters in hot pursuit. 'This could have gone better,' he thought.

He contemplated fighting them, but he was reasonably sure his sister would skin him alive for that. Right now, he decided running was the best option. It would help see how much he had changed from what he could do now that he knew the shinobi arts.

Plus, a part of him was having way too much fun.

He jumped into the trees and leaped from branch to branch, dodging the onslaught of arrows. At some points, he took out a few "special" kunai and threw them back to deflect the arrows. He moved faster than humanly possible, ducking left or right to avoid the angry girls.

Apollo grinned. He had missed this.

But all good things must come to an end, as Apollo found when he came in front of a cliff. He turned around to see the angry hunters giving sinister grins.

"Nowhere to run, male," Phoebe said. Apollo smirked before flashing behind them.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," He responded.

The hunters gasped and turned around before they aimed their arrows at him once again.

"Thou are a god?" Zoe demanded. "Just who are thou?!"

Before Apollo could respond, a familiar voice called out. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Apollo froze. He knew who it was. He slowly turned around. There in front of him was his sister.

Artemis.

"Milady, this god broke into our camps and somehow knows who I am!" Zoe demanded.

Artemis looked at the god, anger seeping into her eyes. "And just who are you? I've never seen a god like you before. Where are you from, and why are you here?"

Apollo steeled himself. This was the moment.

He gave a small smirk. "I can't visit my family, Arty?"

Artemis froze, shock written all over her face. "What… what did you just call me?"

Apollo began to concentrate. It had been so long since he changed his shape and looked like he usually did, but he remembered the form.

Artemis gasped as the suspicious god before her began to morph. His blond hair became slightly lighter and lost all of its spikes, resembling a surfer's hairstyle more. His skin became tanner. His blue eyes grew brighter. And his face….it was turning into a familiar visage. The eyes were a little wiser and he looked a little calmer, but she could never forget that smirk. The Hunters gasped in shock, recognizing who it was.

"Apollo?"

The sun god gave a small smile. "Hello, sister."

Artemis slowly walked up to him, shaking in surprise, before suddenly getting angry. "This is a trick, isn't it?! You've stolen my brothers' form and you think you can fool me?!" A bow materialized in her hands, which was promptly aimed at the suspicious individual.

Apollo paled. "Wait Arty! It's really me, Apollo! I swear on the Styx!"

After the sound of thunder erupted, confirming the promise, Artemis stared at Apollo, waiting for him to be punished.

After a few seconds of nothing happened, she tentatively lowered her bow. "Is it… is it really you?"

"Yes Arty. It's me. I'm home."

He got a fist in the face for that.

"What the Hades, sis?!" Apollo yelled, having moved a few inches back in surprise.

"You bastard!" Artemis screamed. "You've been gone for 15 years, and you think you can just walk back in here like nothing happened?! Do you know what I've been going through?! I've been sitting here thinking that I might never see you again, and you walk in like it's all a joke!"

Artemis slowly calmed down and began to shake. To Apollo's amazement and guilt, he saw that her eyes were getting watery.

"Why…why did you have to leave? You should have stayed... you never should have left because of me!"

"I had to Arty," Apollo said in a sad tone, looking remorseful. "I was so blind for so long about how much I was hurting you. I was disrespecting you and destroying our bond. I was so stupid. I had to go away and try to improve myself."

"I didn't deserve it!" Artemis cried. "I never tried to reach out to you, I was a terrible sister!"

"No, it was my fault Arty!" Apollo fired back. "I should have opened my eyes, but I ignored it and let you suffer! I couldn't go on like this, I had to grow up!"

"But why?" Artemis whispered.

"Because you're my sister and I love you, Arty," Apollo responded. "You mean the world to me- you and Mom. Don't ever doubt that."

Artemis' eyes began to water even more before she finally ran and hugged her brother. Tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Apollo embraced the hug. He felt tears coming down his cheeks too. He had been repressing his feelings towards his sister, and seeing that she genuinely did miss him, broke open that dam.

He could feel the sun growing brighter after years of only being at an average brightness, in response to his feelings. He knew that if it was night, the moon would be shining the brightest in years.

The twin archers were at last reunited.

Slowly, the two began separate, small smiles on each other's face. "I've missed you," Artemis said.

Apollo grinned. "I missed you too, sis."

The hunters, who had been on the sidelines this whole time, continued to look on in amazement at what was happening.

"So, where have you been? And why are you dressed like this?" Artemis asked, looking at Apollo's current get-up.

Apollo wondered how he should approach this topic, before deciding to just do it the simple (and most Naruto-like) way.

Blunt honesty.

"A sage from another dimension turned me into a mortal and sent me to his world so that I could have a son who could become the hero in a prophecy and I grew up as a ninja in a village before becoming it's youngest leader, got married and then died on my son's birthday before coming back as a zombie to fight another zombie." He said honestly.

Artemis and her hunters blinked confusingly.

"What?" she asked.

Apollo laughed. "Let's go back to your camp and I'll start from the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now to go over some plot points:
> 
> Like I said earlier, Naruto will have a small role. Post-war Naruto would completely destroy the plot and I would need to come up with a complicated excuse to find a way so that he doesn't just kill every bad guy in like two seconds and keep the threat level believable. For example, the fun fic A Shinobi Among Monsters makes every villain more powerful than in canon so that Naruto doesn't kill them all immediately (this does have the side effect of making the demigods somewhat less useful then they were in canon though).
> 
> And like my beta pointed out, Zeus would be too paranoid to accept having Naruto around. The same reason why Apollo is not telling him about Hagoromo.
> 
> I also kind of wanted to rib on a popular Naruto/PJO cliché that I find it be kind of goofy. You know, where Naruto wakes up (typically after the final battle of Part 1), he reads a letter from his godly parent, explaining his backstory and that they took him home, love him, and will see him soon, Naruto immediately accepts this and is excited to go to camp, lives by himself for a while, then ends up going to camp and having a great time. I find it a little goofy that not only does Naruto just accept this as the truth, he doesn't seem to care about how he might never go home. You'd think he would be a little upset that he might not see Iruka, Konohamaru, Tsunade, Sasuke, Sakura, and Gaara ever again. That's probably why some fics have it happened before the series started or give Naruto a different background so he won't have friends who miss him.
> 
> The part about Artemis and Hermes claiming Apollo's kids in his stead was because I thought the demigods would notice if Apollo stopped claiming his children, and there's nothing that says that it can't be done in canon. The part about how they missed some kids was something I came up with while researching Apollo's canon kids and is my way of responding to a popular PJO fanfic cliché, that all the demigod kids look like their parents.
> 
> What I mean is that it's very popular in PJO fanfiction to describe all the demigods of a parent to resemble them, typically having the same hair color and eyes. Therefore, all of Apollo's kids should like him. However, according to the Riordan wiki, only Will is confirmed to have blond hair and blue eyes among Apollo's kids. It also is a little questionable for how blond hair and blue eyes would be possible in kids from ethnicities where that color is highly unlikely (for example, Austin, another one of Apollo's kids, is black and is not a blond nor has blue eyes.)
> 
> This idea seems to stem from an early scene in Sea of Monsters where Percy describes the rest of the Athena cabin (one of the maybe three times they are actually mentioned) as all having blond hair and grey eyes just like Annabeth. In addition, in Annabeth's siren fantasy, Athena is shown having blonde hair, implying that this is what she looks like and that's where Annabeth gets it from. However, when Athena appears in The Titan's Curse, she's described as having black hair, and in every other appearance, she's mentioned as either having black hair or brown hair. Indeed, all the official drawings of her for the series depict her as either a brunette or having black hair, never a blonde (although where Annabeth's siblings get their hair from is a mystery, unless Athena really likes blondes). Not to mention, Jason and Thalia have technically the same dad and they have different hair colors.
> 
> My belief is that Uncle Rick meant to include that as an actual plot point, that all the demigod children resemble their parents, but then quickly dropped it when he realized that it made no sense. If all the kids of a god resembled their parents, then it wouldn't be a mystery over which unclaimed kids belonged to which god and there would a lot less against at Camp Half-Blood because of it. Not to mention, if Uncle Rick had kept that idea in, it would have made everyone in The Lightning Thief look really stupid if they couldn't tell from the start that Percy was the son of Poseidon, because by that logic all of Poseidon's kids would have black hair and green eyes.
> 
> I think some people might be against the idea of Zoe lying to Artemis, but I don't know. I think she would have given a small lie to make her grief-stricken goddess happy. I also included some children of Apollo in the hunters (in canon I don't believe it's ever been said one way or the other if Apollo has any of his kids in the Hunt or not. Atlanta is a very popular target in fanfiction to be a child of Apollo though and I went with that.) so that Apollo can bond with them first. Apollo will gradually bond with the Hunters as they slowly accept him as family, and his daughters will be the first to accept it.
> 
> The next chapter will focus more on Apollo's interactions with Artemis and the Hunt.
> 
> See you next time!

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:  
> So as it's pretty obvious, this story was inspired by several fanfictions, mostly fanfictions where Apollo was Minato and comes back to take Naruto to his world. I wanted to try my own spin on it. I wanted a "Minato and/or Kushina were secretly a god in disguise and take Naruto with them back home" fic where the idea of one of the gods being a shinobi actually affected them. Typically, they act pretty much the same, outside of a few exceptions here and there. Here, Apollo's experiences as Minato will affect him and his character and abilities.
> 
> I actually thought about having Apollo reincarnate into Naruto instead, but I felt it was too obvious. I also felt having Apollo would Minato would be more interesting because of the bigger contrast of the characters: the arrogant, irresponsibly, boastful, and womanizing Apollo becomes the calm, intelligent, reliable, and devoted husband Minato. Plus having The Yellow Flash and his Flying Thunder God technique as a sort of shinobi version of the god's ability to flash to a location felt like a neat similarity I could exploit.
> 
> Naruto will appear later on in the story, but not for a long time, and will only have a minor role, since if I have Post-War Naruto running around on the side of the Demigods with no restrictions, the story will be over in five minutes. Plus I would feel like I would have to include the other Konoha shinobi, and that would distract from the focus of Apollo's growth.
> 
> The basic premise of this fic was also inspired by reading too many Apollo and Artemis fics and going "What if Apollo did something so horrible, his sister hated him and he became Minato to improve himself?". It took me a while to figure out what would set Artemis off, because it needed to be something she would get upset over, but nothing too horrible or the audience would lose sympathy for Apollo. Having him sleep with a teenage virgin in her camp seemed like the best option. Speaking of which, I wrote that line about Artemis delivering her to distant relatives so that the readers would wonder what happened to her and if she would return or not. She won't. She went on to live a normal life, found a partner, and never came into contact with the Greek world again. She will never be seen or mentioned after this chapter.
> 
> I was originally going to include a scene where Apollo asked Hephaestus to include the autopilot function and lied to him what he needed it for, but I decided not to since I felt Hephaestus wouldn't be dumb enough to be fooled by Apollo's lies, and I didn't think he could add an autopilot function in just an hour. Plus it streamlines things more. 
> 
> I included the part about Apollo helping to give kids to women who wanted them but couldn't have it because I wanted the Apollo cabin to have some campers that won't just be grown adults by the time Apollo comes back. I haven't decided if that means certain campers like Will are going to still exist now, but I'm just going to get this out of the way: Even if I decide to include Will, he and Nico will NOT end up in a relationship, as he will be far too old by the time he meets Nico. I actually have my own plans on Nico for this story and they don't include Will (although Nico will still be gay).
> 
> For anyone wondering, the fate of Apollo's Roman self will be revealed in a later chapter.
> 
> And just to clarify: when he becomes Apollo again, Minato's personality won't overwrite him or something. Instead it will still be Apollo, but he will have merged with Minato's more positive attributes, the ones Apollo wished he had, but still be himself. He'll just have a more calm and thoughtful perspective on things.
> 
> By the next chapter, we're going to cut to the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, on the grounds that Minato's life was the same was canon, so there's no point in just repeating, and the story will focus on his return to the PJO world.
> 
> I honestly have no idea how long this story will go for, but I want to reach at least to the end of the original PJO series, and maybe cover HoO too. I'm probably not going to cover ToA since I actually haven't read it yet (although I did read a quick summary in case there was something important that I could add to this story), and Apollo is probably not going to be stricken down into a mortal body like in canon. I also will not include whatever Apollo discusses about the gods from that series here, so for the purposes of this fanfic, Apollo is looked down for being an arrogant and childish idiot by almost everyone except Hestia and Hermes.
> 
> Next chapter: We cut several years into the future and see how the Olympians have reacted to Apollo's disappearance, Minato says farewell, Apollo returns to his world, Artemis contemplates her brother's disappearance, and at last, the twin archers reunite.


End file.
